We also get a first glimpse of Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio—more ally than villain.

Share this story

Powerful inter-dimensional beings are wreaking havoc across Europe, Spidey finds a new ally in Mysterio, and Aunt May is getting it on with Happy Hogan in the first trailer for Spider-man: Far From Home.

When we last saw Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), [corrected] he was breaking our hearts by turning to dust in front of his mentor, Tony Stark. (Stupid Thanos with his stupid Infinity Glove.) Far From Home will purportedly pick up a few minutes after the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame, so we can presume that the planned "Un-Snappening" was successful. Also returning from dust for this outing: Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders).

Homecoming Director Jon Watts is back at the helm for this second installment, which Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has said will "launch [Spider-Man] into a very new cinematic universe." The trailer was expected to drop over the holidays, especially since Sony and Marvel screened it at a CCXP event in Brazil in early December. Instead, we got the trailers for Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, which is a pretty fair trade, frankly.

We already knew Far From Home would focus on Peter's first trip to Europe with his high school friends—a classic rite of passage for many teenagers—and the new trailer confirms it. Peter, his BFF Ned (Jacob Batalon), M.J. (Zendaya), and a few others find themselves in Venice. But before Peter has much of a chance for sightseeing, he's recruited by Nick Fury to battle an unnamed evil. "I think Nick Fury just hijacked my summer vacation," Peter moans. But when Fury asks, "Are you going to step up or not?" you know Spider-Man will answer the call.

The trailer might not explicitly name the evil, but it has been confirmed that this time around Spidey and company will be battling the Elementals, extra-dimensional humanoid beings who are (a) immortal and (b) wield power over natural forces. Their leader is Hellfire, who generates flames. We also catch glimpses of what appears to be Hydron (with the ability to control water) and Magnum (who controls earth). Zephyr, who controls air, rounds out the fearsome foursome.

In addition to Hill and Fury, Spider-Man gets some much-needed extra muscle in the form of Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), supposedly an old friend of Fury's (not the villain the character was rumored to be, although as we've seen time and again in the comics, former allies often make the best villains). In the comics, Mysterio was actually a special-effects artist named Quentin Beck, rather than having any special powers. Based on the trailer, however, the green beams he unleashes look like more than a simple light show or optical illusion.

Mysterio is described by one of Peter's high-school buddies as a cross between Iron Man and Thor, but the symbols that briefly appear in those green light-bolts look a lot more like Doctor Strange's mystical terrain. Has he perhaps become a master of the mystical arts? That would make for an interesting development.